TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURDAY 16TH JANUARY 2025)
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” Proverbs 28:13-14 NIV
WELCOME TO THE 16TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY.
It is out of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed. It’s been only 16 days into the year, a lot has happened already. But the LORD has kept us.
His mercies have been shielding us from so many things, and His truth guiding us through this dark world. His precious Holy Spirit has been giving us life, and making the earth less dangerous for us. The power of His blood and the utterances of His cross have been taking care of us in ways we cannot even talk about.
They have been making sure no weapon formed against us prospers.
They have been taking care of the demonic world and keeping us safe from its relentless assaults. These are some of the things that make me say, if Christ has not died for us, if the earth was left without the Christ effect, we would have all perished.
May all glory, honor and praise be to our LORD and savior Jesus Christ, for ever and ever. Amen!!
Today we will be gleaning truths around the number ten in the Bible. The number ten is a unique prophetic number in Biblical numerology. When God wanted to chastise Israel for believing the report of the ten spies out of the 12 Moses sent, He said they had sinned against Him ten times.
That seems to me that God has a justice system that tolerates a man’s sins for sometimes hoping for repentance before it judges. It also seems that the justice system counts.
The Bible says if He marks iniquity we shall not stand, but there is forgiveness with Him so that He might be feared. In other words, He will count the number of times and decide to forgive, or prevent the consequences of our sins from falling upon us, hoping we will use His mercies to repent, and not repeat.
This has some truth for us to glean on. Life will be a misery if we do not use God’s mercies to repent of sins. If we use them to keep repeating our sins, one day we will fall into calamity and there would be no remedy.
REPENTANCE FROM SINS WILL BRING A BLESSING, BUT REPETITION OF SINS WILL BE A CURSE.
One of the blessed things we get from God’s kingdom is the grace not to repeat sins. God does not just forgive, He gives the grace to sin no more. When He has given the grace, our job is to take the grace. The problem we are having is not taking the grace the LORD gives us. If we do not take it, we will find ourselves back in our sins.
Our devotional text says,
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” Proverbs 28:13-14 NIV
This scripture makes it clear that just confessing our sins to God, or to people concerned, does not bring mercy. What brings mercy is confessing and renouncing them. A sin we do not renounce will destroy us over time. That is why we must renounce them.
Confession that is followed by renunciation of the sin, will bring a lot of blessings to us. To renounce means to give up, forsake or disown.
When you renounce, you will not be found committing the sin again. You will push everyone and everything in your life that makes you commit that sin away. That is how to take the grace God gives you to go and sin no more; that is how to make use of it.
When you renounce the sin, you are making use of God’s grace to sin no more. The Bible says,
“We have renounced disgraceful ways (secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness, the methods and arts that men hide through shame); we refuse to deal craftily (to practice trickery and cunning) or to adulterate or handle dishonestly the Word of God, but we state the truth openly (clearly and candidly). And so we commend ourselves in the sight and presence of God to every man’s conscience.” 2 Corinthians 4:2 AMPC
This is an apostolic scripture on doctrine. But it also holds truth on renouncing hidden sins and secret thoughts, feelings and desires that does not glorify God.
IT IS A CALL TO RENUNCIATION OF SINS AND OTHER THINGS THAT DESTROYS THE SANCTITY OF SOUND DOCTRINE.
The secret thoughts and secret sins of our lives must be renounced for us to live peaceful lives on earth. Our confessions of sins must be matched with a life that has turned away from the sin confessed, not a life that keeps repeating it. That is God’s will.
His will is that we renounce our sins and not repeat them.
The people in Bible days were found back and back again to sins God forgave them because there was no renunciation. They were found back and back again, leading to fatal snake bites, outbreak of diseases, deaths, lack and etc.
Those who left Egypt did not make it to the promised land because of the same reasons. God said to them, “you have sinned against me these ten times.” The result was not good. They all perished in the wilderness.
The truth we can glean from them is this; if you are on a journey with the LORD, and you keep repeating sins, you will truncate the journey one day and fill your life with shame. You will turn all miracles into miseries and all blessings in your life into curses.
Concerning those who did not make it to the promised land, the Bible says;
“Nevertheless, God was not pleased with the great majority of them, for they were overthrown and strewn down along [the ground] in the wilderness.
Now these things are examples (warnings and admonitions) for us not to desire or crave or covet or lust after evil and carnal things as they did.
Do not be worshipers of false gods as some of them were, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink [the sacrifices offered to the golden calf at Horeb] and rose to sport (to dance and give way to jesting and hilarity).
We must not gratify evil desire and indulge in immorality as some of them did—and twenty-three thousand [suddenly] fell dead in a single day!
We should not tempt the Lord [try His patience, become a trial to Him, critically appraise Him, and exploit His goodness] as some of them did—and were killed by poisonous serpents; Nor discontentedly complain as some of them did—and were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer (death).
Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as an example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period). 1 Corinthians 10:5-11 AMPC
MAY YOU NOT START A JOURNEY WITH THE LORD AND TRUNCATE IT WITH SINFUL ACTS LIKE THIS PEIPLE DID.
They were forgiven sins, over and over again, until the repetition of their sins destroyed them. Their lives can help us learn how dangerous it is to keep repeating our sins. What happened to them clearly states that, it is a curse to keep repeating sins God forgives you, but a blessing to repent of them, and keep repenting of them.
Sadly, even those who made it to the promise land, were latter carried away into captivity. Their lives are a lesson that People who repeat their sins, will one day miss their promise land or be carried away into captivity by devils or other life circumstances.
Finally, permit me to share this with us. In Christianity, renouncing or giving up sins and the things that leads to sin is a major hall mark of repentance. If you give up sin, but do not give up what leads to it, you will keep sinning; you will keep falling back to it even if you do not want to.
If you want to stop living a life of sin, you must give up that sin and find out what leads to it and give it up too. If it is a job, you must give up the job to permanently give up the sin.
If it is a carelessness, you are to give up that carelessness. If it is a relationship that leads you to the sin, you are to give it up. If it is spiritual laziness that leads you to that sin, you must give it up and become active spiritually. If it is worshiping in the wrong Church, you must give that up too.
If it is showing compassion, you must give up showing compassion that way.
The Bible did not teach us to walk in a compassion that will desecrate our garments. It teaches that while saving people from the fires of life, we should make sure we are not desecrated by them.
If there is a giving up of sin but no giving up of what leads to sin, there would be a repetition of sins, leading to calamity. That is the word of the LORD!!!
God has a good plan for each and every one of us. The entire kingdom of darkness cannot destroy that plan.
The only person that can destroy Gods plan for you is you. So, be careful. Do not live a life that repeats sins that have been forgiven YOU by the LORD. If you do, a worse thing will befall you one day. But God’s plan is that none of that happens, hence sending this word.
May we all heed to His word this day. Amen.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
“I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.” Jeremiah 29:11-14 NKJV